CINCINNATI — A judge in southwestern Ohio granted class-action status yesterday to a lawsuit
challenging use of cameras for a speeding-enforcement blitz in a village near Cincinnati.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman ruled that the original lawsuit can be
expanded to all drivers who paid speeding tickets received over the six months before he ordered a
halt to Elmwood Place’s use of speeding cameras in March.

It’s estimated that will be as many as 10,000 drivers, seeking refunds of $1.75 million in fines
and other charges that Ruehlman called “unjust enrichment.”

Ruehlman had ruled earlier that Elmwood Place hadn’t given proper notice of the camera use and
made it too difficult to challenge the citations. He compared the camera enforcement to a con game,
calling it “a scam” against motorists.

A message seeking comment was left with the village’s attorney.

Attorney Mike Allen filed the lawsuit last year for about a dozen plaintiffs, including ticketed
motorists and business owners who said the ticket blitz was chasing customers away. Among them was
a pastor who said members of his congregation had stopped coming after being ticketed.

“We think that’s appropriate,” Allen said of the class-action ruling. “All the potential
plaintiffs have a common interest in that they all shelled out at least $105 (per citation) to
Elmwood Place.”

Other Ohio courts, including the state Supreme Court, have upheld use of traffic cameras, and
their use has been spreading across the U.S. Supporters say they are tools for stretching
law-enforcement resources to make communities safer. Opponents say local governments are using them
to raise revenues at the expense of motorists’ rights.

The Elmwood Place case spurred lawsuits against camera enforcement in the nearby village of New
Miami and in the northern Ohio village of Lucas.